


Purring

by lusteralliance (orphan_account)



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fluff, I think?, M/M, Pets, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, anyway this was for bae-leth, but also for me bc i wanted to write more dimiashe, i just...care them!!!!, still can't tag stuff!, this is prolly one of the nicer fics ive written in a while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 10:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/lusteralliance
Summary: In order to help Dimitri overcome his greatest fear, Ashe confronts him head on with the source of it.





	Purring

**Author's Note:**

> dimiashe......

Dimitri shook his head vehemently, shrinking away where he knelt on the stone tile walkway of the courtyard outside the monastery. “No, no, no. Do _not_ make me, please, Ashe, I’m begging you!”

Ashe gestured vaguely with the small calico cat in his hands. “Come on, Your Highness! It won’t bite!” Dimitri opened his eye to peek at his knight and the fluffy creature he was clutching to his chest, and he leaned very far backwards when Ashe held the cat out to him.

“No! I will not be touching it!” Dimitri announced with the dignified rigor of a king, though his voice was quivering with terror. “Put that thing down, Ashe, immediately!”

The little cat suddenly squeezed its blue eyes shut and yawned, hugely so, as the action seemed to make its whole body convulse. Ashe gasped and looked at Dimitri expectantly.

“Did you see that?”

“Yes, I don’t—”

“It yawned!”

“I—I know, I just—”

“Oh, please, Your Highness, you must get over your fear! It’s so adorable and small. There’s no way it could possibly hurt you,” Ashe insisted, reaching over the small distance between him and his liege and taking Dimitri’s wrist. Dimitri flinched, but let his arm be pulled over to the cat. “Here. Just touch it.”

“No, I’m—” Dimitri hissed, tugging his hand away before Ashe could place it on the cat. It was starting to clamber up Ashe’s arm. “Ashe, I am not afraid of _it_...I am—I am afraid of doing it any harm.” 

Ashe frowned, letting go of Dimitri’s arm and plucking the small cat off of his shoulder and returning it to his lap. He, as well as anyone who had ever known the young king of Faerghus, was aware of Dimitri’s almost inhuman strength, as well as his struggles to control it. He’d been improving with the assistance of his friends—this had actually been a complex plan devised by Ashe, Sylvain, Ingrid, Annette, Mercedes, Dedue, and begrudgingly, Felix, in order to help Dimitri—but the thought of handling a small animal was simply too much for him.

“You won’t,” Ashe promised. “I’ll be here to make sure you won’t.” Dimitri grimaced, wringing his hands nervously. Ashe bade the king look into his eyes with a soft nod, and he smiled encouragingly. “Want to give it a try?”

Dimitri seemed to be searching the depths of Ashe’s olive gaze; in the end, he nodded back, returning the smile. “...All right.”

“Okay.” Ashe shifted a little closer so his knee brushed Dimitri’s—much to an unknightly rush of feverish warmth that coursed through his veins—and lifted the little cat up in his hands. The calico mewled, pawing at the air. “Here, hold out your hands.”

Dimitri’s fingers were trembling as he cupped his palms underneath the tiny animal, his blue eye wide with anticipation and anxiety. Ashe lowered the cat into Dimitri’s hands, then let his eyes flick to Dimitri’s expression. The king took in a shaky gasp as Ashe let go of the cat, then placed his hands up against Dimitri’s to support him.

“Ah! It’s—get it off!” Dimitri spluttered frantically as the cat got to its little paws, then started to climb impatiently onto Dimitri’s chest. Ashe laughed at the sight of Faerghus’ fearless king, horrified of the tiny kitten clinging to his cloak. The knight took Dimitri’s hands and placed them around the cat’s soft belly.

“Here, you pick it up. Just gently lift it...don’t apply pressure, or you’ll scare it,” Ashe instructed, and Dimitri leaned his head back, swallowing when the cat took an interest in the small scar on his neck and started to bat at it. The king squeezed his eye shut and gripped the cat with just enough force, peeling it off his clothing with some resistance like a burr.

“You did it!” Ashe clasped his hands together under his chin. “See? That wasn’t so bad, wasn’t it?” Dimitri looked absolutely mortified at the tiny thing hissing and wriggling in his hands. “Just place it in your lap, let it get used to you.”

Dimitri dropped it (to Ashe’s horror), and it landed with a soft _plop_ on his leg and scrambled to its paws, bristling.

“Oh, goddess,” Dimitri breathed. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”

Ashe couldn’t suppress the bloom of warmth in his chest; how concerned and caring his liege was! The small calico cat sniffed Dimitri’s hand, which the king lowered tentatively, then rubbed its cheek against it, closing its round eyes contentedly. 

“Ashe! What’s it doing?” Dimitri whisper-screamed, and Ashe—dare he?—sat a little closer to scratch the cat behind its ears.

“It likes you. Don’t you see? It’s so happy!” Dimitri looked as if he was having trouble processing this, but he nodded, letting his thumb gently rub the black spot between the cat’s ears. 

“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully.

Ashe stroked the cat’s back, letting its long tail flick up against his palm when he lifted it. Dimitri observed his knight’s gestures, then started to do the same. Before long, the cat was being pampered by the alternating hands of the king of Faerghus and his knight running down the silky fur on its back, and it started to purr.

“It’s vibrating! Is that bad?” Dimitri asked suddenly, and Ashe couldn’t help laughing a little more, letting his head rest against the hollow of his liege’s shoulder.

“It’s purring. That means its very happy.”

Ashe and Dimitri continued to pet the cat, and Ashe was content; then, when he realized the cat was sideways, as was the shaded courtyard he and Dimitri were sitting in, he froze. He was still leaning his head upon Dimitri’s shoulder!

If he pulled away now, then he would probably seem impolite. That would make things awkward. But if he stayed, he would be overstepping his boundaries. Ashe tensed up, his hand pausing on the cat’s back as Dimitri lifted his off the animal’s tail and rested it back upon its head, and the knight suppressed an “eep” when Dimitri’s hand slipped down and over Ashe’s, and—goddess have mercy—stayed there.

“What’s the matter, Ashe?” Dimitri asked softly. Ashe was panicking. The cat opened its eyes, looking around in confusion.

“Oh—uh—um—” Ashe chanced a look up at his king, and Dimitri was looking back down, a rare, fond smile gracing his lips. His handsome blue eye was void of apprehension, and filled with a pleasant contentedness. He didn’t seem bothered. “...Nothing.”

“Okay, then. Let us continue! Our little friend here is growing bored.” Ashe nodded shyly, and Dimitri let his fingertips brush across Ashe’s knuckles as he lifted his hand. Ashe bit his lip as he started to pet the small animal sitting on Dimitri’s lap once more, and Dimitri followed suit.

Soon, Dimitri started to hum, and Ashe could feel the faint vibrations in his chest, as well as his liege’s, as if they were purring.


End file.
